Little Falls transcript., 1887-03-25
] The Story Iof a Crime.

" I was asked the other day how many
cases ] had known, in my long expe.
rience as detective, Of innocent people
being convicted and punished for the
crimes Of others? Ny answer was:
Only one, !" and the case is we'll worth
relating and reading. 7.
! began my detective career in Cana
da, and IN a locality where justice made
swift work Of evil-doers. had been
three years in the business, and had
done some very fair work, when very
sensational case was put into my hands.
Three miles from the city of B -------
lived retired merchant named Graf
ton. He had fine mansion, elegant
grounds and plenty of money. but his
wife was an insane patient in his own
house, and the only child. boy of 10.
was half idiot. Grafton was silent
partner in several concerns in the city,
but spent four-ffths of his time at
home. His wife was never seen, while
the young man lived more like a wild
animal than human being, the greater
part of his time being spent in the
woods and fields, no matter what the
weather. Grafton had as coachman,
gardener, and hired man a German
about 35 years of age, who had been in
the country about five years when I first
saw him at the house. There were
three female servants, and one of them
was q girl 18 years of age uamed Jen-
ME Price, whose mother was very re-
spectacle widow in the city. This girl
was allowed to 60 home every other
Saturday. and always rode in with
Fritz, the coachman, as he went to
market, ran home for an hour two, and
then returned by the same vehicle. It
was reported that Fritz was in love
with and jealous of her. Will Grafton,
the half idiot, had also taken a ''shine"
to her, but his attentions were laughed
to scorn by the pretty Jennie and her
companions.
Now, then, in the afternoon of GER
tain 14th of July several weighty in
cidents occurred. Fritz received let
ter with a foreign postrnark, and was
very much excited. He was seen rum
ming to the barn with the letter IN his
hand, and, ten minutes later, was
heard shouting and storming to himself
as if greatly enraged and excited. The
servants said to each other that he
must have received bad news, but none
Of them went to investigate and con-
sole him.
1t was Jennie's day to 60 home, but
Grafton was indisposed. Fritz sud-
denly disappeared, and Will was not al
lowed to drive the horses. The girl,
therefore, decided to set out on foot,
and take her chances of getting lift
on the road. She left at 3 o'clock in
the afternoon, and was to return by
noon next day. Saturday night it was
discovered that Fritz had left the house
and locality, not even asking for his
wages, while Will had set off on one of
his erratlc excursions, having been seen
by the cook to pack up some pro-
visions.
Jennie did not return on Sunday or
Monday or Tuesday, and Grafton
drove into town on Wednesday and
sent message to her house. She had
not been home, and an investigation re-
vealed the fact that none of her friends
had seen her for two weeks. 1t was a
case Of mysterious disappearance"
and l came into it having little doubt
that it would turn out like the majority
of such cases. However, when l had
learned that the girl was steady as
we'll as handsome, and that every body
had perfect confidence in her princi-
Piles, went to the Grafton mansion to
begin my search there. This was on
Thursday morning, and it now seemed
pretty plain that some calamity had be-
fallen the girl. In an hour I learned
all the incidents related above. Graf
ton was very anxious in the matter,
telling me to spare no expense, but
when I began to question Will, the
young man turned on his heel and
walked off, as if deaf and dumb. l,
however, had chance to look over
him for a couple of minutes, and l
made note of several things. A but
ton had been torn off his coat with
such force rs to tear the cloth. He
had two scratches on the right cheek
and one on the right hand. One fin
ger of the left hand was tied up in a
rag, and the cook. who tied it up for
him, told me that something had bitten
him severely.
1t was quarter of mile from the
house to the highway, with a carriage
road running straight from the front
door. This road was taken by any of
the servants who were going to town
on foot. By making a cut through the
wood they saved at least half mile
in distance. The girl Jennie had been
seen to take this path on that Saturday,
and my search lay in that direction
The woods covered about ten acres, and
were not underbrushed. The path was
we'll defined, and was a roman tic walk
for summers day, the forest being
alive with hares, squirrels and birds.
Half way through the woods the path
traversed dell about half an acre in
extent. 1t was while crossing this that
I got my first clew. Several feet to
the right of the path was Jennie's par
asol. and as 1 picked it up I found that
it had been badly broken. While it
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